Photograph: (Left to Right) Brian Machray and Nick Smith
Reward Finance Group has helped boost Scotland’s economy by providing £8.3m of funding to SMEs in the first 12 months of launching north of the border.
Having experienced unprecedented growth, the SME lender has supported Scottish businesses operating across a diverse range of sectors and is looking to further build on its success by expanding its team internally and further develop its commercial finance broker network in the year ahead.
The company attributes this rapid success to its straightforward and flexible lending products, speed of delivery, and the confidence of an increasing number of SME-size companies to build their business and drive growth post-pandemic.
It is also due to the Scottish arm of the business being led by Brian Machray, who is both experienced and well-connected in the Scottish financial market. Brian joined Reward 12 months ago having previously worked in the UK and Australia, delivering acquisition, property, and infrastructure finance.
Among the SMEs in the region benefitting from Reward’s support in the last 12 months is Fife-based Moda Ceramics, an independent, contemporary porcelain and ceramic tile specification company. It was looking to expand the business with new headquarters and a showroom, with Reward providing £150,000 in flexible working capital to assist with receivables and large orders imported from Europe.
Another company to benefit is Scotland’s first industrial-scale tyre recycling plant, UK Rubber. The Motherwell-based business took advantage of a £350,000 working capital facility to help improve operational efficiencies, invest in vital machinery, recruit and support its drive to increase revenues by 92%.
Brian Machray, Reward’s Business Development Director for Scotland, said: “The first 12 months of establishing any business in a new market can be extremely challenging, so to go on such a rapid growth trajectory has been a superb achievement.
“Our success across Scotland is largely down to the speed, simplification and transparency of lending and going the extra mile for clients to provide a truly tailored funding solution. I’m immensely proud of the continued hard work and expertise within the team here and being able to fund the ambitions of so many SMEs across the country.”
Nick Smith, Group Managing Director for Reward, added: “It’s fair to say that our first 12 months of trading in Scotland has completely exceeded our expectations.
“£8.3m is a significant sum to inject into the Scottish economy in just 12 months and we’re now looking to the future, growing the team here further and providing more working capital to help SMEs seize new opportunities, accelerate their business growth or simply get through a brief period of difficulty.”
Reward provides SMEs with tailored business finance loans and asset based solutions of up to £5m, with further information available at www.rewardfinancegroup.com.